As Indiana’s tech community continues to grow and mature, it’s getting harder and harder to narrow down the winners for our annual Tech 25 Awards program. Clearly, there is a wealth of tech talent in the Hoosier state, and they are making incredible moves. Join us in celebrating the Tech 25 class of 2020 through this profile series and learn a bit more about each winner.

Matt began his career in Deloitte Consulting’s Strategy & Operations practice, helping large enterprises navigate M&A transactions. He entered the Indy tech scene as part of High Alpha’s finance team and joined Zylo as one of the team’s first Customer Success Managers, owning many of Zylo’s marquee enterprise accounts. He helped build the framework of how Zylo’s SaaS Consulting team approaches driving value and ROI at its customer base and recently moved over to the Sales team as a Solutions Consultant in 2020. 

Matt was born and raised on the northeast side of Indianapolis, where he attended Cathedral High School and went on to graduate from IU’s Kelley School of Business in 2015. He’s constantly raising the bar and holding himself to commendably high standards both inside and outside of the office. Matt’s team describes him as high energy, compassionate, loyal, analytical, motivated, and a dig-deep, results-oriented kind of guy.

What led you to get into tech and this occupation? What was your first job in tech?

I first entered the Indy tech ecosystem as a Slingshot intern at ExactTarget. Growing up in Indianapolis, I’d heard so much about the Orange culture and was thrilled to see it in action. The summer of my internship was during the Acquisition by Salesforce. I spent a few years in management consulting out of undergrad but missed the idea of being part of a smaller team aspiring to build something great. Joining High Alpha showed me the excitement around the growing Indianapolis software market, and I was eager to join one of its startup teams of my own. 

What are the main work activities you do or responsibilities you have?

My job revolves around educating potential customers about the value of deploying Zylo across their organization. I help facilitate all late-stage prospects through our Proof of Concept process, essentially completing a lightweight implementation onto the platform and showing them what they can accomplish by buying our product. I assist our entire sales team as the product and customer expert for Zylo and ensure our prospects have an accurate sense of what to expect as a Zylo customer. My main focus is setting up our implementation and SaaS Consultant teams for success with knowledgeable, incoming customers excited for their Zylo journey.

Which resources would you recommend to those who want to advance their skills?

First and foremost, I’d recommend seeking out mentors in your field. While books and online learning can be very helpful as a starting point, nothing can replace the perspective, wisdom, and advice of someone who is where you think you want to be. I’ve been very grateful to find this in my formal and informal mentors from High Alpha and Zylo. I’d also recommend SaaStr‘s online content for anyone looking to go into the SaaS world. They’re very helpful tidbits around what it means to be successful in software. Finally, books about entrepreneurship stories and company culture are always inspiring.

Matt Renie is a Tech 25 winner who is helping to grow and improve the tech landscape of Indiana. He was nominated by his VP, Customer Success and Sales, Cory Wheeler. To learn more about the Tech 25 Awards, click here. 

Visit the Indianapolis Business Journal website to see the full listing and celebration of the 2020 Tech 25 honorees in the joint CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards supplement. You can also watch a video of the livestream from the CTO of the Year and Tech 25 Awards virtual event.